An promoting company and an area Chinese language non secular items service provider declare to have developed a brand new sort of joss paper that reduces the environmental influence of conventional paper burning at Chinese language non secular festivals in Singapore.
The “Eco Hell observe” burns rapidly with out producing ash, providing an “environmentally-friendly different” to burning joss paper, based on a press launch from advert company Mullen Lowe.
The brand new joss paper is created from nitrocellulose, a extremely flammable compound fashioned by treating cellulose with a combination of nitric acid and sulphuric acid. It’s the most important ingredient in fashionable gunpowder.
The Eco Hell observe launches within the run-up to the Qingming Competition, when historically paper is burned to honour lifeless family members. The observe typically raises complaints about smoke and air air pollution in neighbourhoods across the city-state.
The brand new paper cash was designed and developed by Mullen Lowe for native joss paper wholesaler Ban Kah Hiang Buying and selling, one of many oldest Chinese language non secular items retailers in Singapore, beneath the startup title Base Genesis.
Mullen Lowe couldn’t present information on the relative emissions of the Eco Hell observe versus conventional paper, however stated that as a result of nitrocellulose-based paper produces no ash and minimal residue, it has a smaller environmental footprint.
Talking to Eco-Enterprise on Wednesday, Alex Teo, proprietor of Ban Kah Hiang Buying and selling, stated the nitrocellulose-based observe was a “trial” to check if the market would settle for the product.
Air air pollution resolution or advertising and marketing gimmick?
In response to questions from Eco-Enterprise in regards to the viability of the reduced-smoke paper, Mullen Lowe stated that the Eco Hell Word is “accessible for pre-orders”, with a roll-out of the product slated for this 12 months’s Hungry Ghost Competition in August.
Daniel Kass, senior vice chairman of environmental, local weather and concrete well being for air high quality non-profit Important Methods, stated that whereas the nitrocellulose paper, also referred to as flash paper, doesn’t create particulate air pollution in the way in which that standard paper does, it does burn extremely popular and really quickly – which may pose security dangers.
“Most flash paper is utilized in magic methods and is small. It burns fast sufficient to have a low threat of setting anything on hearth. A big piece of paper, as is the case with this product, may ignite neighbouring objects if not cautious,” he stated.
“I’d fear about facial and scalp hair catching on hearth, and I’d be doubly involved about it being ignited within the presence of different flammables, together with issues like hair spray residue (which is flammable) or within the presence of some other ignition sources. I’d additionally need to be certain it isn’t getting used indoors,” he added.
Any such joss paper would must be saved in air-tight containers in a moist atmosphere to stop the potential for inadvertent or spontaneous combustion from warmth sources, Kass stated.
Mullen Lowe informed Eco-Enterprise that whereas a security allow shouldn’t be required to burn the Eco Hell Word, it ought to solely be burned in designated areas to guarantee “accountable joss paper burning”.
Questions hold over the involvement of an advert company to develop the product. Businesses have beforehand been criticised for creating one-off gimmicks to purportedly clear up social and environmental points so as to win inventive awards.
A traditional instance of this was an app created by a Singapore advert company that claimed to have the ability to discover refugees stranded within the Mediterranean Sea. The app, which gained an award, turned out to be a pretend.
